*I'm posting this way after the fact, but don't judge me. Things get really hectic in a school library.*

I added this to my display this year, hoping for increased clarity on the issue. ;)

Every year I struggle a little to make sure the students understand Banned Books Week as much as possible. I know some libraries call it "Intellectual Freedom Week," but usually that's partially for the sake of simplification, and partially because they shy away from anything that might sound controversial. I do NOT shy away from what might seem controversial, plus I like how arresting "Banned Books Week" sounds. It's SUPPOSED to get your attention because it's an important issue!
But it also means you can't be lazy, because you'll probably be explaining the same things to your students all month. (No, we are NOT banning books, yes you MAY check out the books on display because we're celebrating the fact that they are available in OUR library, well- do YOU think one person or group should have the right to decide what YOU have access to and what you do NOT? No, this doesn't mean I'm going to put Fifty Shades of Grey in our school library, etc...)

Several teachers created extra credit assignments based on the lists I sent out of Frequently Challenged and/or Banned Books that are available in our library. I thought that was really cool. :)

Most of the stuff I put up this year is stuff I've already posted about, so I didn't post pictures of the old stuff. Instead, here is a link to a few older posts with display ideas for Banned Books Week.

This post is quite tardy. The library has been very busy. But better late than never, right? Banned Books Week 2013 was September 22-28. I had the library all decorated to support intellectual freedom, and I did presentations about censorship and intellectual freedom for 6 eighth grade English classes. They were all very attentive and polite, and had great questions and participation. Their teacher had them all check out books that had been either banned or challenged, which made for some interesting research coming up with about 200 titles that fit the bill and were currently available in our library.
She gave them an assignment to read their challenged/banned book and take a stance on whether they agreed or not with the book being challenged or banned, and why. Of course she leaned heavily toward influencing them on the side of intellectual freedom.
I really liked how the teacher made it very clear in her paperwork for the students that banning a book means removing it from an entire community so that NO ONE has access to it.
I felt it was totally worth the effort on her part and my part. I loved that the teacher wanted to do such a thorough exploration of a subject that's near and dear to my heart. It gave me the opportunity to talk about my own personal experience with censorship. It's great to see teachers who recognize how important it is to teach kids about the issue, and make sure they understand all the complexities of it. It's not simple or easy.
I ended up having some great conversations with students regarding the reasons (so-called and real) why some people try to ban certain books. Sometimes it was difficult to find the info, which was also a nice research challenge. ;)
Here are some pics of what I put up in the library for Banned Books Week, 2013.

There's that comic I drew a billion years ago when I worked in the junior high library...

Detail of the "Library Key"

I like this poster.

I like this poster, too. Those robots are cute AND open-minded.

"Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same" poster available from ALA HERE.

Every year this is one of my favorite noteable occasions to decorate for. To see last year's displays, go HERE.

This time I had this sudden idea to wrap our cylindrical glass display case in black butcher paper and cut out little peep-holes so the students could actually lift flaps to reveal the controversial books.

It took a little work positioning the shelves inside the case so they lined up just right with the 5 peep-holes, but I was very happy with the result. It's INTERACTIVE, dude! I reinforced the peep flaps with packaging tape so they wouldn't get instantly shredded.

Just what is going on here?!

What's really cool is that as soon as I got the display together, students instantly started lifting flaps and talking about the books, and wondering why people would object to them and try to make them unavailable to anyone else.

On the back of the display case is a locking door, but although I covered it in black paper, I purposely left it UNlocked, and put this on it:

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"A library is a key to intellectual freedom..."

﻿ Plenty of kids started immediately opening it and grabbing the challenged and banned books to check out.

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Wow, look at all the enticing contraband!

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On the big bulletin board I did a variation of the same thing I did last year with my "unlock your mind" theme, and my "Banned Books Week Made Simple" cartoon.

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"Unlock your mind... Banned Books Week!"

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And last but not least, I printed out the ALA's packet of info on the most frequently challenged or banned books from 2010-2011, put it in a 3-ring binder, and displayed it on the corner shelves at the circ counter, surrounded by some of the books that are always under fire. Every time a kid asks about the (so-called) REASONS for the challenges and bannings, I direct them to the folder and they eagerly flip through it, and read some of it out loud to their friends in outrage and indignation. I love it!

﻿ BANNED BOOKS WEEK is September 26th - October 2nd. I have a lot of cool stuff to display for it. Last year it occurred to me that since I'm (unfortunately) in charge of lockers and combination locks, I might as well use some of the wayward locks in my displays, with an "Unlock Your Mind" theme. I went a little nuts with it this year, and used copies of pictures of locks, blown up big, to form all the letters. (The metal hook part was what I used for the letters.) And I used a picture of a brain on pink paper to dot the "i" in "mind." Isn't that adorable?

I was quite proud of this idea

The bulletin board also included the dates (at first I put the 6 upside-down, but don't look at that!), a nice quote from Ben Franklin, and a bitchin' "Censorship causes blindness: READ!" poster.

The main bulletin board

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Banned Books Week SIMPLIFIED

﻿﻿ I made this Banned Books Week comic strip when I was working at a junior high school with "less intellectual" students who needed a LOT more explaining before they began to grasp the concepts involved. It was frequently painful (for us), but we just kept on trying, because it's important.
In case you can't read the dialogue, it goes like this:

BOY: I don' get it-- Are we banning books?! Is that a good thing?!

GIRL: No! Banned Books Week is about exercising our FREEDOM to read.

GIRL (continued): It's about CELEBRATING all the wonderful books that some people are trying to keep us from reading, just because they don't like the IDEAS expressed in them.

BOOK: I'm just a lil' book with some BIG IDEAS! Don't ban me just 'cause you don't agree with me!

GIRL: Save the books!

BOY: Read an "endangered" book today!

"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself"

﻿﻿﻿ In the circular glass display cabinet we displayed books from an American Library Association list of the most frequently challenged and/or banned books. I scattered some opened padlocks on the shelves, and there are two signs on the back side, explaining the display.
The first sign reads, "Some people are trying to keep you from reading these books... These books have been challenged and/or banned from school and public libraries across the nation."

And the second one says, "Celebrate your freedom to read!"

The cabinet is unlocked, and I encourage students to check out any books they find interesting.

The Library Key!

This is a close-up of my favorite part of the display, the "Library Key" which I made from clip-art and blue and chartreuse paper. Isn't it fancy?! It's symbolism, get it? Because the LIBRARY is the KEY which unlocks your MIND. Duuuude...

I have one more (very wordy) hand-made poster about BBW, which I direct students to if I don't have time to explain it myself, or if I'm too frazzled and tongue-tied to be coherent about it. I put it on red, white, and blue paper to make sure kids get the message that there's nothing un-American about intellectual freedom. Here's the text of it, which I got mostly from the American Library Association, and paraphrased:

FREE PEOPLE READ FREELY!

Banned Books Week emphasizes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A "CHALLENGE" AND A "BANNING?"

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove materials from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.

The positive message of Banned Books Week: Free People Read Freely is that due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.